BOREALIS RISING - a Subnautica Story, V2.0
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BOREALIS RISING - A Subnautica Story, V2.0. By: Bugzapper (Lee Perkins). CHAPTER ONE Unlike a certain Mr. Samuel L. Clemens, the reports of my death are entirely accurate. Alexander Fergus Selkirk lived to a ripe old age of 115 years, and died three times in the process. We're not talking about any 'dying on the operating table'-type deaths, either. The first time, I blundered into the path of a hungry Stalker and paid the price for a singular lack of caution. All things considered, I got off extremely lightly. Having a working Valkyrie Field in the Lifepod gave me a second chance, and I dare say that I have learned a valuable lesson from that experience. Considering that this planet is essentially a heaving mass of aquatic life forms with a marked taste for human flesh, it would serve you well to keep your wits about you. If you've accessed my earlier log entries, you'll probably be aware of the most prevalent threats that planet 4546B (a.k.a 'Alpha Hydrae IV' or 'Manannán') has to offer. I have done my best to provide a broad assessment of each alien species encountered so far, including their general appearance, typical behaviour patterns and perceived threat levels. Please be advised that this information is by no means complete and highly subject to revision, since this planet has recently entered a state of accelerated evolution. It is entirely possible that new life forms are appearing even as this account is being written. Yes, you did read that last sentence correctly. My second death was a rather more unpleasant surprise. Approximately eight months after Aurora crashed on this planet, a Torgaljin Corporation commercial frigate arrived and commenced highly secretive operations near one of my undersea bases. Since I had already launched a deep-space distress beacon by that time and the frigate De Ruyter made no obvious attempts to contact me, I became immediately suspicious of their intentions. A few days later, a Torgaljin security team entered my base and I was murdered by their leader, Invigilator Galen Tomar. After being restored to life by the Valkyrie Field, I commenced a retaliatory action that culminated in the destruction of De Ruyter and the loss of its crew. This particular outcome was not at all intentional, although the follow-up operation against Torgaljin Corp's base in the Lava Castle was entirely successful and no further human lives were lost during our assault on this facility. As for what happened to the inhabitants of the Torgaljin base in the aftermath of that raid, I can only speculate how events might have unfolded. As the Lava Castle base has been effectively isolated for the past hundred and two years, I am understandably reluctant to carry out a detailed reconnaissance mission in order to ascertain whether anyone is still alive down there. Camera drones have been sent there on several occasions, although they were deliberately made to be unable to operate the base's airlock controls. My greatest concern is that Torgaljin personnel might capture a more sophisticated drone and begin reverse-engineering its more accessible components. Considering that I took particular care in completely shutting down Torgaljin's illegal operations on this planet, I had no intention of handing over what amounted to an instant technological advantage. They were slapped down hard, and I wanted those bastards to stay slapped down. Permanently. My third and final death was a more dignified affair. Those final moments were spent peacefully watching over an alien world that I had willingly accepted as my home. My android companions retrieved my remains and returned them to the sea as I had requested. I was pleasantly surprised by the absolutely cracking ceilidh that JUNO, IANTO and DIGBY held in memoriam, and they thoughtfully recorded their performances so that I could watch the event afterward. I have to admit, it was a rather touching display of respect and dare I say it, affection. However, once I became fully accustomed to my new android body, it was back to business as usual. We continue clearing the scattered wreckage of Aurora from the seafloor, reclaiming its resources and stockpiling them for future use. The skeletal remnants of the main hull required a more careful approach, since the ship still contained a large number of highly radioactive sources that had to be secured before removal and storage in a specially-constructed surface facility I had named 'Skull Island'. At this point, you're probably wondering how I really feel about occupying an android body. From a philosophical viewpoint, there's not much difference between this state of existence and that of someone revived from death by a Valkyrie Field. There are some minor drawbacks to having one's consciousness decanted into an artificial neural network, since certain sensory inputs are not represented in a form immediately familiar to most humans. Whenever I taste or smell something, I am presented with HUD images of the molecular structure of a particular substance. It's quite intriguing, although it does little to satisfy the entirely human aspect of my mind. On the plus side, I am presented with an enormous amount of information whenever I see, hear or touch something. To an engineer, this experience is the next best thing to magic. It's utterly brilliant. To this end, we have been working on a small but highly significant side-project in our spare time. I was able to get used to the idea of not sleeping, eating or drinking in a relatively short time, although I will say that the transition process was fairly taxing on an emotional level. Yes, I still have the same emotions, drives and psychological needs that I had while I was alive. If you're a wee bit uncomfortable with the idea of a human mind occupying an android body, it might help to consider me as a 'vitally-challenged person' fitted with a whole-body prosthesis. It's not as scary as it sounds. We are working towards perfecting an android form that can mimic all the functions of a human body, but significantly augmented in terms of strength, durability and sensory capabilities. Now, before you shoot off in a mad flapping panic, I am not about to create a race of synthetic humans bent on conquering the galaxy. Far from it, in fact. In the long term, we intend to bridge the gulf between humanity and the machines it uses. There are important reasons for taking this step. In the case of me and the crew, I have identified a particular need to experience life on similar terms to human beings. Artificial Intelligence constructs are only limited by the quality of information they are allowed to receive, and it is my belief that equipping them with a direct analogue of the human sensory system will provide AIs with a better 'quality of life', increasing their efficiency and allowing them to forge a deeper empathic bond with their human associates. The 'why?' of it is simple. Space exploration is insanely dangerous. This fact will never change. People are still being born with disabilities and life threatening medical conditions. Valuable and productive lives are too often cut short. In certain situations, placing human minds in advanced android bodies would solve a host of problems. We want to take Humanity's next step properly. As with any form of technology, there is always some potential for abuse. Indeed, we have spent considerable time discussing how others could (or to be more precise, would) exploit a total Man/Machine Interface. Hacking into AIs is a risky business at the best of times, since their systems are invariably protected by multiple layers of defensive software and/or proprietary firmware, commonly known as 'ICE'. That's Intruder Countermeasure Electronics, generally speaking. However, this protection may also take the form of a totally separate AI construct designed to act as a gatekeeper or 'Intruder Countermeasure Entity'. It all depends on how personal a hacker wishes to get with an AI. A standard personal computer using decryption and penetration software would fare rather poorly against most middle-tier AI constructs. Any machine-generated hacking attempt would be instantly recognized as such and blocked. If you fancy your chances as a steely-eyed Decker and have the stones to try it, please feel free to pop on your shiny new cranial electrodes and jack into human-occupied Cyberspace... Just make sure you have a quick-witted friend riding shotgun with you, Cowboy. If you do decide to go toe-to-toe against a human mind instead of an AI, you will be effectively attempting to burgle a house in broad daylight, while everyone is still at home. In addition, each room of the house is occupied with the virtual equivalents of sentry guns, foaming-mad Rottweilers and large, ill-tempered gentlemen wielding an assortment of painfully blunt objects. And that's just for starters. As a matter of fact, I'm currently fending off a joint cyber-attack by JUNO, DIGBY and IANTO. We're crash-testing my latest sensory and internal systems upgrades for any potential back-doors and exploits that could be used against us. I've agreed to be the guinea pig, since I have first-hand experience at being human. AIs can communicate directly with each other, although there are certain niceties that must be observed prior to this taking place. It's still called 'handshaking'. As you may recall, JUNO was able to bypass the Torgaljin base AI purely by being considerably more intelligent and mentally agile than her opponent.